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Middle schoolers arrived at I.S. 5 in Queens Thursday morning with a mix of first-day emotions. They mourned the end of summer, nervously awaited classroom assignments, and some shed tears despite the bouquets of “welcome” balloons.
Seventh grader Gabriel Chrisman said he would miss sleeping late and playing video games. He hoped for hands-on learning rather than textbook-oriented lessons. Aarav Patel was anxious to learn whether he’ll make it into honors classes at the Elmhurst school. “I’m hoping mostly I’ll get good grades,” said the seventh grader.
The new school year brings an array of changes and challenges to the nation’s largest school system, with a new cellphone ban, looming class size requirements, and a mayoral race that could bring new leadership to the Education Department midway through the school year.
Democratic frontrunner, Zohran Mamdani, and Michael Mulgrew, president of the teachers union, visited I.S. 5 to highlight the school’s efforts to reduce class sizes and its success banning cellphones. About a 48-minute transit ride away in another part of Queens, Mayor Eric Adams joined the city’s schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos at HBCU Early College Prep High School, one of seven new schools opening this fall.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running for mayor as an independent, did not have any public first day of school appearances. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa planned to visit a Queens K-8 school after dismissal.
Adams, who trails all of the other candidates in most polls, returned not far from where he grew up to make the case that he has invested in underserved neighborhoods by opening high-performing schools.
“Oftentimes communities like Southeast Queens are overlooked,” Adams told the crowd during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at HBCU Early College Prep. “Not in this administration. We are going to make sure you get the same skills and tools that will prepare you for the future.”
The first-of-its-kind school aims to foster academic excellence and a sense of belonging among Black and brown students by drawing on the legacy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs.
Through a partnership with the HBCU Delaware State University, students will be able to take online courses with professors at the university, who will also serve as faculty mentors. They can earn a tuition-free associate degree while still in high school, and they’re also guaranteed admission to Delaware State.
The selective school admits students based on grades, which account for 30% of a student’s admissions application. Students must also complete two writing prompts and a video.
“This is a huge opportunity for us, and we’re excited,” said Far Rockaway resident and parent Trudy Quintyne.
Quintyne first heard about the new school last spring when her son — now a senior at Delaware State — showed her an Instagram post announcing its opening.
“My son is actually the first one to go to college. So now to have her follow in his footsteps — it’s amazing,” Quintyne said Thursday as she dropped off her 14-year-old daughter, Maliya, for her first day.
“I feel good to be in a school that represents me,” said Maliya, who is among the roughly 100 students in HBCU Early College Prep’s inaugural freshman class. “To be somewhere where you’re supported, where people love you, and want to see you succeed … it’s just amazing to be in a place like that.”
Ringing in a statewide cellphone ban
Besides being at a new school, Maliya was still adjusting to the cellphone ban before classes began.
“I love being on my phone!” she said.
Her mother interjected, laughing: “No, I love the ban.”
Roughly half of the city’s schools already had some restrictions on cellphones in place, whether they collected devices or had students carry them locked in pouches. But the new state law requires all public schools ban students’ personal internet-enabled devices from “bell to bell,” with some exceptions.
I.S. 5 has required students to place their phones in lockable pouches since 2024, which Mulgrew and Mamdani trumpeted as a model for other schools.
“To be young in this moment is to feel a relentless amount of pressure to not only be online,” Mamdani said, “but to be subject to the incentives and the imperatives of an algorithm.”
He said the ban should help reduce bullying and other disciplinary issues.
Adams, too, talked about the need to reduce bullying. The share of New York City students who report that their classmates harass or intimidate each other online has grown in the wake of the pandemic.
“Young people met and sat down with us and stated that they’re tired of the bullying on the cell phones,” Adams told students and community members at HBCU Early College Prep. “They’re tired of the violence that comes from the cellphones. … they’re tired of watching their friends go through depression, suicidal ideations.”
Zahidul Amin, whose daughter is starting sixth grade at I.S. 5, had mixed feelings about the cellphone ban. He worried about contacting his daughter in an emergency, though he acknowledged that students may surreptitiously use their phones to play games during class. Ultimately, he agreed that schools should collect them.
He said his main hope for the school year is for his daughter, who is on the autism spectrum, to make progress in math, a subject that has tripped her up. He’s also hopeful that she’ll become more independent.
“It’s the very first day of middle school, it’s a new chapter of her life, and as a parent I’m delighted,” he said.
Thousands of new teachers in NYC classes
Schools across the city are hiring thousands of new teachers to comply with a state mandate to sharply reduce class sizes — and Mulgrew pointed to I.S. 5 as an early success story.
The school received funding for 21 new teachers, the second highest number of roughly 740 schools awarded more than $400 million to shrink classes. That will allow all of its classes to have 23 or fewer students, meeting the new caps, said Principal Kelly Nepogoda.
The city so far hired about 3,200 of the 3,700 additional teachers needed, Mulgrew said. (An Education Department spokesperson declined to confirm current hiring figures.)
Luisa Zapata, a parent association leader at I.S. 5, said her son, a seventh grader, had 30 students in his classes last year. She believes the change will make it easier for him to pay attention and get more individual support from his teachers.
“It’s really a big deal because the classroom will be less crowded,” she said.
Mamdani, who won the teachers union’s endorsement in the November general election, indicated he would not waiver from implementing the law, which passed after intense lobbying from the union.
“The question of compliance has too often been a negotiation,” Mamdani said, “as opposed to something that we are all equally working alongside to fulfill.”
Mayoral election hangs over the school year
On the campaign trail, Mamdani often talks about how out-of-school factors, such as affordable housing and groceries, can improve student outcomes, since children facing housing and food insecurity often struggle to show up to class or concentrate on school work. The mayoral frontrunner has also promised to make child care more affordable and give communities a greater say in Education Department policies, though he has not released a detailed K-12 platform.
Asked on Thursday how he would improve the city’s highest-need schools, Mamdani said he would eliminate wasteful spending on contacts and consultants and direct more funding to classrooms.
But he did not outline any specific policy proposals or commit to releasing a more comprehensive plan before the election. “We are continuing to develop policy,” he said.
Adams’ education agenda has focused on overhauling reading and math instruction as well as expanding access to career opportunities before graduation. His mayoral opponents have largely signaled they will continue the literacy program mandates.
Cuomo recently released his plans to replace “chronically underperforming” schools with a “high performance model,” such as early college high schools, “innovative” or “specialized” schools, or charter schools.
Sliwa released his schools plan on Thursday, calling for more theme-based and vocational schools and an end to the state’s charter school cap.
The mayoral election, however, was far from many parents’ minds at I.S. 5.
After the press conference wound down just a few feet from the school’s main entrance, some families snapped photos and shook Mamdani’s hand. Several others remarked that they weren’t sure who he was.
Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
Seyma Bayram is a New York City-based journalist. You can reach her at sbayram@chalkbeat.org.
Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy atazimmer@chalkbeat.org.